Government and Politics in China

China is a unitary and socialist state whose constitution calls on the nation
to “concentrate on socialist modernization by following the road of building
socialism with Chinese characteristics” all the while adhering to the
“leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the guidance of Marxism-Leninism,
Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory” as well as “the important
thought of the Three Represents,” which are attributed to former CCP general
secretary and president of China Jiang Zemin. The political system is led by
the 66.4- million-member CCP. Political processes are guided by the CCP constitution
and, increasingly, by the state constitution, both promulgated in 1982. The
CCP constitution was revised in 2002, and the state constitution was amended
in 1988, 1993, 1999, and 2004.

Both constitutions stress the principle of democratic centralism, under which
the representative organs of both party and state are elected by lower bodies
and in turn elect their administrative arms at corresponding levels. Within
representative and executive bodies, the minority must abide by decisions of
the majority; lower bodies obey orders of higher-level organs. In theory, the
National Party Congress ranks as the highest organ of party power, but actual
power lies in the CCP Central Committee and its even more exclusive Political
Bureau. At the apex of all political power are the members of the elite Standing
Committee of the Political Bureau.

In September 2004 at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th CCP Congress, former
party, state, and military leader Jiang Zemin completed his formal handover
of responsibilities to Hu Jintao. At the plenum, Jiang gave up his last key
position, chairmanship of the CCP Central Military Commission. With Hu holding
that position, as well as those of general secretary of the CCP (since November
2002) and president of China (since March 2003), the succession ostensibly was
complete. However, Jiang confidants and allies were still entrenched in key
positions, and Jiang himself, through several high-profile public appearances,
indicated that he would continue to be influential in central party and state
policy making.

For more details on government and politics in China, see the following topics: